I, Robots

Wednesday, 10/9/13 - I've been aching to do robot-themed lunches with some fun robot-y goodies for a while now. So I finally made some for both girls!

Little 'Bot

1/2 GF PBJ, non-dairy cheese, GF crackers, hummus cup; organic strawberries, edamame, carrots, sugar snap peas

Little Sis got a very simple robot sandwich, as I hadn't really planned on doing anything with hers when I started packing. But once I was cutting shapes out of the non-dairy cheese for Z, I thought it would be fun to make a robot face on E's little sandwich fingers too.

I used little cutters from the Zoku Character Kit, which is just adorable and I'd been coveting it for the longest time.
She got a Chowbots spoon for her hummus, in case she didn't want to dip her broken Glutino crackers or veggies. And I added a robot cupcake topper ring for fun.

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Big Girl Robot

Organic strawberries and carrots, GF PBJ, non-dairy cheese, leftover GF DF macaroni and cheese

I've had the Yumbots silicone cupcake molds for a while now, but they're too tall to fit in any of my other lunch boxes. I finally thought to try them in my blue yubo lunchbox and they're perfect to sub for one (or both!) of the small round inner containers.

I made the robot face using random cutters from the Character Kit, but used the Zoku Social Media Kit for the letters. Fun!

Z got the Chowbots Fork for her Namaste Say Cheeze gluten- and dairy-free macaroni and cheese. I usually add some extra stuff into the sauce, like pureed squash, nutritional yeast, and mustard, to give it a cheesier taste and thicker sauce.

Since the tall robot cups don't have lids, I made sure to pack larger items like the strawberries and carrots, so that I could easily keep them held down with a napkin and the fork.

My cloth robot napkin is from Red Poppy Crafts on etsy.

Tools of the Trade

        

The Three Little Pig...Nigiris

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Wednesday, 4/17/13 - For what I had envisioned, my green yubo box was perfect for this lunch. I used the two small round containers that came with it, and two medium oval containers to go with.

This lunch took far more effort than it was worth and kept me up into the wee (wee wee) hours. I don't even like how it turned out. Oh well. She ate it.

Three Little Piggies

Brown and white rice, with quinoa onigiri filled with cheese shreds; organic sugar snap peas, cheese shreds,
Snyder's GF pretzel sticks; organic spinach, purple broccoli, carrot, and strawberries; GF tamari sauce

Straw: Cheese shreds. Not very original, but they were easy!

Sticks: Gluten-free Snyder's pretzels! Yum! They're a lot crunchier than regular stick pretzels, but just as tasty.

Bricks: I used a mini house cutter on a large carrot slab and then used a knife to score bricks and roof in. Meh. I added a purple broccoli tree for perspective, and spinach leaves underneath in the hopes that she'd eat it (nope.)

Big Bad Bear Wolf: I didn't have anything wolf-y, so I figured this bear sauce bottle could do the trick.

Three Little Pigs: I keep a batch of pre-cooked rice/quinoa mix in baggies in the fridge and freezer so I always have some on-hand. I was pleased at how well my pig balls held up. I made them the normal way. Put some rice on a piece of cling wrap, put some cheese on top, more rice on that, and wrapped it all in the plastic and shaped and squeezed it together.

I cut the snoots out of ham with an 'O' from an alphabet cutter set and used a small straw to poke nostrils. The ears are ham too, and I forget whether I used a cutter or just made little triangley shapes. I stuck them on with bits of uncooked spaghetti noodle (gluten-free,) and did a craptastic job. Oh well.

I used some nori punchers for the eyes (and this one for the smiley eyes.) I tried letting the moistness of the rice stick the nori on, but no go. I tried a bit of water, but then the pieces warped and stuck to me instead. They ended up just staying on by a lick and a wish, and then stuck to the lid of the compartment and came off when she opened it. *sigh*

Z of course thought the theme was The Three Bears, because of the bear sauce bottle. Even after I explained the straw, sticks, and (sort of) bricks, she still thought they were bears. *sigh*

Tools of the Trade

        

Somewhere "Clover" the Rainbow Bento - and "Green With Envy" yubo Giveaway

I was extremely excited to get my new green yubo lunchbox with the medium oval-shaped containers and an attachable drink holder sleeve. I already had pink and blue yubo boxes, each with a large square and two small circle containers. Plus ice packs. Now my collection is complete! Muahahaha! [Wait, what? They make orange and black boxes too? Hmmm...]

Baked Pancakes, powdered sugar; organic  raspberries, carrots, golden beets, sugar snap peas, blueberries;
Greek honey yogurt, dye-free sprinkles, chocolate coins (water in drink bottle)

Somewhere "Clover" the Rainbow: I made some Baked Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pie Pancakes using my shamrock muffin pan (this was before we went gluten-free. But I have it on good authority you can sub a GF flour mix 1:1 for the flour in the recipe!) I put some organic powdered sugar in the mini shamrock sauce container, since I didn't want to deal with the mess of syrup. Plus she's just as happy with less sugar this way!

Cloudy Skies: I packed some Greek honey-flavored yogurt in one of the small containers to be a "cloud" under the "rainbow." I put some India Tree Nature's Colors "Carnival Mix" jimmies sprinkles in the little rainbow sauce container to sprinkle on top.

Taste the Rainbow!: To make a rainbow, I used one of the medium containers and lined up some organic raspberries, orange carrot and golden beet flowers (cut with a flower veggie cutter,) sugar snap peas, and blueberries.

Pot O' Gold: I was super excited about this one! It turns out the mini Pot O' Gold I got at a party supply store ages ago fits perfectly in a small container slot in the yubo box! So I added a few gold foil chocolate coins (I found small bags both at a party store and at Target's Dollar Spot. They were by Fort Knox, and had no artificial ingredients. Not fantastic ingredients, mind you. But nothing Z reacts to.) 

I stuffed a cloth napkin inside to help fill it, plus Little Z could use it to keep her hands clean!

Also shown are my new green drink holder and a Lunchbox Love note (now available at getyubo.com too!) The cloud trivia was perfect for this lunch. Since I couldn't find one about rainbows...

Her new Thermos Funtainer bottle (Z chose the Lalaloopsy one, naturally!) fit perfectly in the neoprene drink holder. But it was a tad snug. She might have a hard time getting it back in by herself. 

What Mama Thinks

Yays

I love the versatility of the yubo's inner containers. Basically, there are 6 "spots." The large container takes up 4 spots, mediums 2, and the smalls 1. So depending on what you're packing, you can change and customize the configuration to fit the needs of each lunch! 

The different interchangeable faceplates are also super fun. They not only allow for fun changes for seasons or themes, but also allow the lunchbox to grow with your child's changing likes and cuteness tolerance.

Everything comes apart, which makes for easy washing! And dishwasher-safe is always a plus with me! I like that even the ice pack is dishwasher safe - I haven't ever seen any other dishwasher-safe ice pack.

And because they make a custom ice pack to fit inside the box, you don't need a separate insulated bag to hold everything!

Mehs

Due to their very versatility, it means that there are a bajillion parts to wash and keep track of each time. You don't need to wash the whole box and ice pack every time, unless they get goopy, but even just washing the inner containers can add up to a lot of bits to worry about. (Especially if your Hubby does the dishes and they don't all get washed in the same load, so one gets put away in the Tupperware cupboard by accident, and another gets put "somewhere with your bento stuff." But the third gets put with random stuff he doesn't know what to do with so leaves on the counter for you to sort out, and maybe falls behind the baby's bottle drying rack so you don't find it for a while... And that's if you're lucky enough that the lids stayed with the bases for each one!)
Totally worth it though, for the ability to customize.

I had a hard time with the drink holder. I love that it attaches on the outside, but because it can't be kept chilled, you're pretty much restricted to water or juice. The neoprene will insulate it a bit, and you can get insulated drink bottles too. But I still wouldn't trust putting milk in there, unless I knew that she would drink it all up at lunch time. (And that I'd remember to rinse it out immediately after she got home! But that's a keep-the-bottle-from-getting-skanky issue, and nothing to do with the holder, really.

It may have been just user error, but I also had a difficult time getting the holder attached onto the side of the box. Maybe with more practice it won't be so difficult. But the straps seem to be a bit wider than the holes, and you have to thread them through four layers of neoprene total, plus the holes on the side of the box.
And my insulated thermos was a tad large for it. And many of our water bottles are even wider. So I'd have to find the perfect bottle to fit, so she could take it in and out herself.
But - the fact that it attaches on the outside means that her drink won't get left behind somewhere, since she'd notice the empty drink holder flapping on the side! And it won't get lost somewhere in the bottom of her backpack. Nor would we need a separate bag to hold everything to keep her lunch and drink together.

The custom ice pack that fits inside the box means one more thing I need to keep in my freezer at all times - unless I plan ahead well enough to remember to put it in the night before. But it means I don't need to worry about a separate insulated bag!

I don't really have any "Boos," since they're all upgraded due to being worth the hassle!

Okay, no wait. I do have one Boo. The box is carried vertically instead of flat, so I have to plan for that when designing and packing the lunch. I can't have items that won't hold up to being tipped sideways and jostled around. Not a problem for this lunch though! And most things that might be an issue could be solved by packing a cloth napkin inside that container to help keep everything in place.

"Green With Envy" Giveaway!

You know you want one! So in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, yubo has offered to send one lucky winner a GREEN yubo lunchbox set with a non-personalized faceplate of their choice! (Set includes outer box (including lids and handle, of course!) and ice pack, plus one large and two small inner containers!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received the green yubo with "Peace" faceplates, three medium containers, and a green drink holder from yubo to review. But I said "Heck, yeah!" because I really love these lunchboxes! I'm at the point now where we have so many bento boxes, I have to really want it to allow another one into my home, no matter how free it is! I'm no longer so cheap and easy!

Tools of the Trade
You can buy yubo, yubo accessories, and Lunchbox Love notes at getyubo.com!